Flood disaster in Ahr valley: Malu Dreyer sees Angela Merkel's visit as signal to population

THE MIRROR Flood disaster in Ahr valley: Malu Dreyer sees Angela Merkel's visit as signal to population Milena Hassenkamp 1 hr ago. | For the second time, Chancellor Merkel has visited the devastated Ahr Valley. She assured: The flood disaster will not be forgotten in Berlin - even if a few days have already passed. Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) has assured those affected by the flood disaster in Rhineland-Palatinate of solidarity. "The message I would like to say first is that we will not forget this flood - even if a few days have already passed," Merkel said at a press conference Friday during her second visit to the Ahr Valley. She said it will take many more months and years to repair the damage. At the same time, she said, much has been accomplished in the past seven weeks. "This visit is of course also a sign of the firm will that we in the federal government want to work together with the affected states of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia and do what we can at all," Merkel said. Earlier, Merkel and Rhineland-Palatinate Prime Minister Malu Dreyer (SPD) had taken a tour of the Altenahr district of Altenburg to get an idea of the current situation. They were accompanied by Rhineland-Palatinate Interior Minister Roger Lewentz (SPD), Climate Protection Minister Anne Spiegel (Greens) and Economics Minister Daniela Schmitt (FDP). "For me, what we saw there was very impressive," Merkel said. She said the extensive destruction of the houses made clear the force with which the Ahr River had hit. Rhineland-Palatinate Prime Minister Malu Dreyer (SPD) said the visit to the disaster area meant "comfort and encouragement" for the people there. The tour on Friday is a signal that the population is not forgotten, she said. Despite all the destruction, impressive progress has since been seen in the cleanup efforts, Dreyer said. She announced another "future conference" for this month, which will focus on details of the reconstruction. Merkel and Dreyer had already been together in the Ahr Valley on July 18, a few days after the disaster. Extremely heavy rainfall had triggered devastating flooding on rivers in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate. Many communities, especially in the Ahr Valley, were devastated. A total of around 180 people died.